Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship
description:
The goal of my Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship is to visually connect human skin to frog skin, evoking an echo of that visceral thrill-squirm we feel when we hold a frog in our naked hand.
To study the concept of codification as second skin the frogs, tags and notes have been photographed floating in preservation fluid still within the collection jars. To incorporate the technical aspects of the scientific process frog specimens were illuminated with flexible-shaft microscope lighting.
A few images include round-bottom distillation vessels traditionally associated with both alchemy and chemistry. Since roughly the first forging of copper in 6000 BCE: art, science and faith have evolved together, forming a triad in which each is reflected, shadow-wise, upon the other two. Visual art offers a common ground to shed light on the intimate intersection of science and faith.
This research will eventually be reinterpreted three-dimensionally as installation art.
Tracy Hicks
18 Jan 2011
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